Of Flowers and Light
by SecretBox
Summary: Roxas didn't like flowers, until he met her; · · \ roxith /


**A/N : **A Roxith! Dedicated to the uberlytastic _wrathofbrett_, the founder of Roxas x Aerith. Prompt? Flowers and light; I tried to be creative in case you did not notice. Beta'd by the awesome _Crimson Kaoru_ as always. 

**Disclaimer:** Oh, how I wish.

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**Of Flowers and Light**

**roxas** x _a_erith

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Roxas didn't like flowers. The realization came to him with a sudden clarity that caused his beryl-gem orbs to widen. But the sooner the thought registered in his mind the more he knew it to be true. He wasn't quite sure what it was about them that truly made him dislike them, though he could list a few contributing factors off the top of his head.

He wasn't crazy about flora or obsessed with fauna. And he definitely hated dirt getting under his nails, no matter how girly that sounded (Hayner would probably laugh his ass off if he were ever to confess such thing aloud). He didn't like sunburns, either.

They smelled weird too, now that he thought about it. How could so many people enjoy that strange scent they made? It wasn't fragrant, it was pungent. They all smelled the same to him, and they all smelled weird. And what did flowers actually do besides stick out of the ground and look pretty? They were useless stupid, smelly little plants.

But Aerith loved flowers; she loved how they looked, how they smelled, she even loved taking care of them. In fact, she seemed to enjoy taking care of them most of all, like a little plot of blooming children. She would often smile because of them, her candied pink lips curling in mirth as her mint-tinted orbs shone with delight whilst her soft hands held the fragile plant. The long green stem caressed by delicate long fingers as she twirled it gracefully within her grasp.

And oh, did she look beautiful while doing it.

Donning a coral pink sundress, the brunette's delicate skin appeared so very pale. The colored flecks of light from the sun above glowed across her small frame, layering her petite body in rays of unearthly hues of gold and amber. It highlighted her cinnamon tresses in warm shades of auburn red, adding color to her passively snow-white cheeks as she kneeled in her precious garden, tending to the vast array of flowers she grew there with utmost care -- wood sorrel flower, the anemone, scentless violets, irises, primroses, a few strawberries, and those starry, yellow flowers called perennials. All equally beautiful as their green leaves shimmered low against the earth, petals ranging from every single color of the rainbow as they seemed to reach out towards the sky. But no flower in particular could compare to the flower girl's naturally radiant features as she carried on with her trimmings and precisely measured watering, humming bits of a charming nursery rhyme from her childhood all the while.

_Wow is she pretty,_ Roxas' mind mumbled with little purpose, and he felt his bronzed cheeks bloom an embarrassed shade of pink. It was just a thought. It didn't necessarily mean anything he told himself fretfully, even as his entire face turned a fire truck red as the gentile woman smiled cheerfully up at him from her perch on the ground. He rarely had any steady, conclusive, important thoughts whilst in the garden. Well, in Aerith's garden. Actually, his thoughts seemed to skitter and scatter to a halt like dead circuitry whenever he was in her mere presence.

Today was different though. Despite himself, Roxas felt a slight frown begin to pull at his pursed, thin lips while watching her clip away at the dead branches of one of her primrose bushes. "Why do you like flowers so much?" At the sound of his own voice piercing the spring air, Roxas blanched in shock as Aerith turned to look up at him, confused. Sparkling emeralds rose to greet those unique stormy sea-eyes and refused to let go.

"Why do I like flowers?" Aerith repeated confusedly. She tilted her head cutely to one side in that endearing way of hers, her honey-hued braid cascading over one slim, pale shoulder gently. Her pretty face mirrored his blatant confusion as she crinkled up her nose; those dark pupils like lotus upon a pool of green, bedewed with light as they sought out his intently.

"Yeah . . ." Roxas trailed off lamely, raking his hand through his spiky, golden locks nervously as his voice dropped an octave in his embarrassment. The teen stood there, tongue-tied, avoiding her bright eyes, suddenly uncomfortable with the entire situation. "I was just wondering why."

She laughed. The sound was beautiful, light as a pure, white feather and just as airborne. Roxas immediately felt like a thousand kind of fools as his sapphires irises glimmered downwards to stare hard at his shoes, silently cursing himself for his inane stupidity.

"Roxas," she beckoned gently, and despite himself the blonde chanced another indigo-eyed glance towards the flower girl shyly. His pale lashes brushed against his inflamed cheeks as he wrung his hands nervously. He moistened his dry, cracked lips with an anxious dart of his pink tongue.

"Yeah?" he mumbled quietly.

"You asked me why I liked flowers," Aerith admonished quietly, holding his eyes with hers. "So I'll tell you."

She dropped her tools then, pulled off her earth-brown gloves with a graceful tug and her gaze focused intently on the brightly lit skyline that lay overhead. Turning away from him, she raised one hand up delicately to shield polished emeralds glittering beneath half-closed eyelids. "They're always looking to the sun," she explained softly. A dreamy smile spread across her china-doll face, her lips painted with the color of peonies. "That's just something I've always admired about them, I suppose."

Her body reminded him of a flower in that moment, her torso and legs serving as the stem, her lips serving as the blushing petals. Roxas squinted as he peered at the pink-clad flower girl. He nearly gasped as he stared at her openly in obvious appreciation.

Colors seemed to drip down her form in rivulets of pale light, dripping star yellows and sweet pinks and passionate scarlets -- he had never even known such colors existed before. The teenager looked on in awe as she seemed to go into a patch of her own light, her very own warmth. She reminded him of a gorgeous earth goddess.

_Like a flower_, the thought rose unbidden in Roxas' mind as he came to a sudden realization. _She really is beautiful._

There was a moment of silence that reigned then, settling over him as he allowed his dark eyes to flutter closed while tilting his head serenely towards the sky. Everything was calm and peaceful, even the sun seemed to glimmer in relaxation as it beamed down at him.

"Aerith?" Roxas murmured dreamily, basking in the rays of the sun's burning warmth on his sun-kissed face and arms.

"Hmm?"

"I think . . . I think I like flowers, too," the teenaged boy confessed softly.

_**f**in._


End file.
